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unusual choice of conversation. But no. Of course he could not have done. She was letting her imagination run away with her - again.
    Whatever his thoughts, he fell in with her choice of conversation. Yes. I was.'
    'Have there been any problems with them at Marsden mill?'
    'No. Marsden mill was never attacked. But that doesn't mean that we can relax in our vigilance. These are turbulent times, and we need to remember it.' The steps of the dance parted them again, but when they came together, Joshua asked, Your grandfather spoke to you about the Luddite problem, I take it?'
    'No,' said Rebecca.
    Then you don't know the kind of havoc they can cause,' he frowned.
    'On the contrary,' she informed him. 'I know only too well. Cousin Louisa and I live in Cheshire, as you know. That is very close to the source of many of the problems. The Luddites have caused a lot of difficulties in the north of England recently, and in the Midlands as well.' Her mouth quirked humorously. 'Despite being a mere woman, I have been known to read a newspaper from time to time,' she said with a sideways glance.
    He laughed. But then his expression became more serious. 'Reading a newspaper is one thing; running a mill is another. I wasn't exaggerating when I said that mills are dangerous places. If you read the newspapers, you know that what I am saying is true.'
    1 know it was true,' said Rebecca. There has been a lot of unrest, but it is over now. The ringleaders have been dealt with and that has put a stop to it.'
    Unfortunately it may not be as simple as that. Although a lot of the Luddite ringleaders have been dealt with, the underlying problems haven't gone away, and trouble could break out again at any time. We will not know if the Luddite movement has really been broken until we have had at least two or three peaceful years. There is still a lot of resentment against the using of machines because the machines take away men's jobs, and without jobs they can't feed their families.'
    In that I have a great deal of sympathy for them,' said Rebecca. She looked at him challengingly as she walked down the room beside him, her hand raised and joined to his. 1 warn you, if you mean to put men out of work then I will do everything in my power to thwart you.'
    It would not surprise me,' he returned, with a flash in his copper-coloured eyes.
    And why did they have to send shivers through her, those eyes? she wondered, as she turned away from him, in accordance with the dance. Why could they not have been green, or blue, or grey, or anything but copper?
    The dance brought them together again.
    1 can understand why the men hate machines,' continued Rebecca. She was determined not to succumb to the magnetism of the man before her: if she did that, he would surely relegate her, as a mere woman, to a subordinate role, and forbid her any real influence over her inheritance. But she was determined to play her part. Although she knew very little about running a mill she meant to use her part-ownership to make sure that the men and women who worked there did not suffer the draconian working conditions that were prevalent in some mills. This, she suspected, was the part her grandfather had meant her to play: bringing a softening influence to Joshua's hard and predatory nature. The machines take away their jobs. I am not surprised they're resentful.'
    'Being resentful is one thing,' he remarked. Being violent is quite another. The Luddites are no respecters of persons. If they feel their livelihoods are threatened they are not above breaking into the homes of mill owners and holding them at gunpoint.'
    'You are thinking of James Balderstone,' said Rebecca. The assault on James Balderstone had been in all the newspapers at the time. His house had been broken into by a mob, and he had been held at gunpoint by a number of Luddites whilst their fellows had smashed up one of his frames.
    'Among others. And in some cases the situation has been even worse. In Stockport, a mob